"
"Yes, papa" Charley said, anxious to give his father's thoughts a
new turn. "But we will rescue her, if she is alive, wherever they
may take her."
"We will, Charley; we will, my boys," Mr. Hardy said earnestly, and
rousing himself at the thought. "I must go up and break it to your
mother; though how I shall do so, I know not. Do you give what
orders you like for collecting our friends. First, though, let us
question this man. When was it?"
"Last night, signor, at eleven o'clock. I had just lain down in my
hut, and I noticed that there were still lights downstairs at the
house, when, all of a sudden, I heard a yell as of a thousand
fiends, and I knew the Indians were upon us. I knew that it was too
late to fly, but I threw myself out of the window, and lay flat by
the wall, as the Indians burst in. There were eight of us, and I
closed my ears to shut out the sound of the others' cries. Up at
the house, too, I could hear screams and some pistol shots, and
then more screams and cries. The Indians were all round,
everywhere, and I dreaded lest one of them should stumble up
against me. Then a sudden glare shot up, and I knew they were
firing the house. The light would have shown me clearly enough, had
I remained where I was; so I crawled on my stomach till I came to
some potato ground a few yards off.
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